High Speed Rotational Testing of Laminated Side Glazing for Occupant Containment

Recent research by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on developing an ejection mitigation standard, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 226, has led to an increased focus on occupant retention in the rollover accident mode. Research has long shown the benefits of keeping occupants contained in the vehicle as their risk of fatality increases five fold when they are ejected [1]. While restraint use, restraint performance and vehicle structural integrity are all components in occupant containment, the vehicle’s glazing system is the most likely component to fail in a rollover accident. Vehicle glazing failure usually creates large portals in the vehicle structure through which occupants can be ejected. The subject paper reviews previous work regarding testing and analysis of laminated automotive glazing and expands upon those studies with the presented high speed rotational testing. The performed study includes seven controlled, multirevolution tests of a partial sport utility vehicle (SUV) occupant compartment test fixture rotated about a fixed, longitudinal axis. The front doors of the fixture were modified by replacing the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) tempered glazing with High Penetration Resistant (HPR) annealed laminated glazing. Additionally, one of the door window frames was expanded and reinforced with an additional outboard sheet metal flange. Unrestrained Hybrid III 50th percentile male ATDs were placed in the front seating positions and rotated at roll rates of up to 644 degrees per second. ATD kinematics and interactions with the front window glazing were recorded and analyzed. When the laminated glazing did not fracture during early test sequences, the glazing was pre-fractured and re-tested under similar conditions. Under all test conditions, the laminated side window glazing was shown to contain the ATD.Copyright © 2010 by ASME